Air control instrument



A. EL KROGH AIR CONTROL INSTRUIENT Aug. 11, 1942.

Filed Sept. 15, 1939 4 2 mm Y o E 2 m w a. A K M a m a a U B a I w lww 1 x 1,... 7 u u: k w 5 233 I :5 x 4 V l 8 Q Q Patented Aug. 11, 1942 AIR CONTROL INSTBUMENI Anker E. Krogh, Mount Airy, Pa., assignor to The Brown Instrument Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation oi Pennsylvania Application September 15, 1939, Serial No. 295,087

3 Claims. 236-82) My present invention comprises improvements in fluid pressure control apparatus operating to create acontrol fluid pressure force which isimpressed on a fluid pressure control motor oranalogous control actuating element and which varies in accordance with changes in a control condition such, for example, as a temperature,

a pressure, a height of liquid level, or a velocity, the controlling condition usually, though not necessarily, being returned to, or toward a normal value on a departure therefrom, by the operation of said motor or-analogous device.

Am'ain object of the present invention is to providecertain specific improvements in fluid pressure controlling apparatus of the type comprising means whereby a departure in the value of -a controlling condition from a predetermined orinormal value thereof, varies an air or other elastic fluid pressure control force, and whereby such initial variation in the control force produces a second control force adjustment quickly eliminating more or less of the initial change in the control pressure, and produces a subsequent third control force adjustment by which the effect of the second adjustment is neutralized at a rate suitably retarded to insure the regulation or control stability necessary to avoid hunting. Said second or third adjustments 'are sometimes referred to as follow-up and compensating ad- .iustments, respectively, and the third adjustment is also sometimes referred to as an automatic resetting adjustment.

movements of the parts which produce the various adjustments are relatively large, which per- ,mits large variations in valve pressure in response to small variations in the controlling pressure;

It, is a further object tithe invention to i r vide a control instrument that is extremely flexible in producing the control functions 'of which it a valve 3 which varies the flow of fluid.

is capable. This flexibility permits the instru ment to be used in a large number of control applications with a minimum of adjustment.

The various features of novelty which char-. acterize the present invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention, however, its ad- .vantages, and specific objects attained with its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawing and descriptive matter in which I have illustrated and described a preferred em bodiment of the invention. I In the drawing there is shown, by way of example, a supply pipe I through which a temperature controlling fluid flows to a furnace- 2 past The valve 3 may conveniently be of the air operated type in which air under pressure is supplied to a diaphragm to open the valve in opposition to a spring that normally tends to maintain the valve In such control apparatus, the extent to which the initial control pressure adjustment is neutralized by the second adjustment, and the rate at which the third adjustment neutralizes the effect of the second adjustment, should be ca- 1 pable of regulation or calibration to enable the apparatus to' give desirable results under varying conditions of operation. In particular, such calibration should be effected with regard to, or

in accordance with the maximum magnitude of corrective control actions which the particular process or operation controlled can absorb without being unduly disturbed orv 'upset. Such calibration should also be eflected with suitable regard to the time constants or lag of the par ticular process or operation controlled.

Another main object of the invention is to provide an instrument in which the fluid under pressure that is used to provide the second and thirdadjusting movements is capable of exerting 'a comparatively large'force in order to accomplish those adjustments. -It is a further objectof the invention to provide an instrument in which closed. The'temperature in the furnace 2 ismeasured by a bulb 4 that contains some suitable temperature responsive medium which ex-' pands as the temperature increases to raise the pressure in a Bourdon tube element 5 that is connected to the bulb l by means of a capillary tube 6.

.The Bourdon tube and the other mechanism, now to be described, are conveniently located in an instrument casing I which contains provisions for supporting a chart (not shown) upon which a record of the temperature variations of the fur-'- nace 2 may be made. Upon an increase in temperature in the, furnace the Bourdon tube tends to unwind and then through suitable connections whichmay take the form of those shown in Patent 2,125,081 issued to C. B. Moore, and including a lever l pivoted at a. point coaxial with the tube. 5, link 9 and lever ll, gives a clockwise movement to a pen supporting arm ii that extends through'an opening of a plate I! which is attached to the casing I and covers part of the mechanism. This same movement of the Bourdon tube 5 gives an upward or initial movement to a link l3, attached at its lower end to a pivoted flapper actuating member II. This member I4 is pivoted at I5 on an arm l6, and

is provided with a pin I1 that, upon clockwise movement, moves a flapper valve member I8, pivoted at I9, against its natural bias away from a nozzle 28.

The nozzle 28 is supplied with air under a suitable reduced pressure through a line. 2| from a filter and restriction unit 22 located in a pilot or booster valve 23, that is in turn, supplied with air under a regulated pressure from a pipe 24. The pipe 2| is also connected to a chamber 25, one wall of which is formed of a bellows 26 that changes in size due to pressure changes in the chamber. A change in length of the bellows 26 shifts a valve member 21 up and down between an intake valve 28 and an exhaust valve 29 to regulate the supply of air from pipe 24, through the booster valve 23 to a pipe 38 that communicates with the diaphragm of valve 3.

The pressure in the line 38 that is applied to the valve 3 is also applied through a line 3| to a booster and control unit 32 which controls the second or follow-up adjustment of the instrument. Within the casing of the unit is a chamber 33 that is formed by an expansible bellows 34 that has some predetermined normal length and whose open end isattached to a head member 35.. Also attached to the head 35 is a second bellows 36, that forms with the first an interbellows chamber 31 which'is in restricted .communication with the atmosphere through an adjustable orifice 38 and a small filter unit 39. Attached to-the inner wall of bellows 36 is a rod 48 whose upper end engages a flapper valve member 4| pivoted at 42 to control the position of the flapper with respect to a nozzle 43. The bellows 36 may be biased toward a predetermined normal length by a spring 44.

ported. For this purpose 63 is provided with a rack meshing with a pinion 65 that is turned by a shaft 66. A plate 61 which may conveniently The.nozzle 43 is supplied with air under a constant pressure from the supply line 24 through a line 45 containing a restriction 46. The nozzle 43 is also in communication with a chamber 41 in a follow-up unit 48. One wall of the chamber 41 is formed of a bellows 49 whose open end is .attached to a head member 58. Fastened to the some predetermined length two springs 53 and 54 are provided, each having one end abutting the head 58, the former having its other end engaging the head of bellows 49 while the latter has its other end engaging the collar 52. Changes in pressure in the chamber 41 change the length of bellows 49 to shift rod 5| and produce the follow-up or second adjusting movement of the flapper I8. This is accomplished through a lever system by means of a pin 55 on the rod 5| engaging the side of a cam member 56 that in turn engages a pin 51 on a lever 58 pivoted at 59. Movement of lever 58 shifts a pin 68, on a lever 6|, to move the arm I6 around its pivot 62 to move flapper adjusting lever I4.

The amount of follow-up produced for a given pressure change in the chamber 41 may be varied by changing the throttling range/"of the instrument. The term throttling range may be defined as the percentage of the. total movement of the measuring instrument required to move the valve from its fully open to its fully closed position, and is altered by shifting the pin 68 relative to levers 58 and I6 to change the leverage between them. To do this the arm '6I, upon which pin 68 is supported, is shifted up and down by moving a member 63 to which it is suphe graduated in percent throttling range is also attached to the shaft.

The cam or thrust member 56 may be adjusted to change the relation between rod 5| and lever I6 by moving a supporting member 68 around 69 as a center. The thrust member 56 being pivoted to 68 at 18.

a In the operation of the instrument a decrease in the temperature in furnace 2 will cause an opening movement of the valve 3 to increase the flow of heating fluid through pipe I. This is accomplished in the following manner. Upon a decrease in the temperature of the furnace the Bourdon tube 5 will contract to move lever 8 and the pen supporting member |I counterclockwise. This same movement lowers the link I3 so that pin I1, on lever I 4, will be moved to the left, thus permitting the flapper I8 to move' toward nozzle 28 and throttle the flow of air therethrough. Since less air is escaping through the nozzle 28, pressure in line 2! and chamber 25 will be increased to cause a contraction of the bellows 26 and move the valve 21 downwardly. This movement of the valve 21 opens the inlet port 28 and closes the outlet port 29 so that more air can be supplied to the booster valve 23 from line 24, and thereby increase the pressure in line 38 and on the diaphragm of valve 3 to open the valve.

The same increase in pressure supplied to the valve is applied through line 3| to the chamber 33 to produce an immediate contraction of bellows 34 and 36, the latter moving as required to maintain the volume of the inter-bellows space 31 constant, since this initial bellows movement is effected rapidly and in a period of time too short for a flow of a significant amount of air from the space 31 through the restriction 38, although said bellows contraction necessarily initiates such a flow due to the increased pressure on the air therein. As the bellows 36 contracts, the rod 48 is moved upwardly to move flapper 4| toward nozzle 43 to throttle the flow therethrough and increase the pressure in chamber 41. This increase of pressure contracts the bellows 49 and moves rod 5| to the .right and operates through pin 55, lever 56, pin 51, lever 58 and pin 68 to move lever I6 to the right and thereby bodily shift the lever I4, including its flapper engaging pin I1 to the right. The last mentioned movement of pin I1 moves the flapper I8 away from the nozzle 28, with the result of effecting the second or follow-up adjustment decrease in the pilot valve chamber 26 and the chambers 33, 31 and 41.

The extent to which the initial increase in the control pressure is thus neutralized by the follow-up adjustment depends both upon the extent of movement of rod 5| and the position of pin 68 along levers 58 and I6. Since the-followup adjustment is initiated as soon as the pres:

' sure in chamber 41 begins to increase the followup adjustment may be contemporaneous in part with the initial adjustment of the flapper, but whether the initial adjustment is completed during or before the follow-up adjustment of the flapper I8, the ultimate effect of a decrease in the temperature of bulb 4 is a quickly effected adjustment of the flapper I8 to a position intermediate its original position and the position it would assume without the follow-up movement of lever I6.

increase in chamber 33, air begins to flow from space 31 through the restriction 38 and filter 39 to the atmosphere.

Ordinarily, as previously,

explained, that flow is too small to have any significant effect on the initial and follow-up;

ments directly by the bellows 36 there is much more power available for those movements This is due to the fact that the movement of thebel- .lows 36 is produced by the compression or expansion of the air in inter-bellows space 31 whereas the movement of bellows 49 is directly responsive to the force produced by the change adjustment. Eventually, however, assuming no I further temperature change on bulb l, enough air will flow from space 31 until its pressure is again equal to atmospheric and to permit the bellows 36 to expand to its normal length. The time required for this pressure equalization depends in part upon the initial pressure increase and in part.upon the adjustment of the restriction 38.

As the bellows 36.slowly returns to its normal length the rod 40 is slowly lowered to its original position, permitting'a reduction in pressure in chamber 41 to its original value. This in turn slowly eflects a return movementofthe lever IE to its original position and gives the flapper l8 its third or compensating adjustment and neutralizes the effect of the follow-up adjustment on the flapper. of the compensating action will be displaced from its initial position by an amount depending uponv the amount of air that has escaped from cham- The bellows 3| at the termination in the air pressure in chamber 41. A comparatively small amount of power is needed to control flapper with respect toIthe amount that is needed to move flapper l8 through the throttling range adjusting lever system. 7 1

Another advantage that is obtained by the operation of the instrument of my invention is that the relatively large motion of the bellows 49, as compared to the motion of the bellows 36, per-' mits a large motion of the flapper l8 in response to a given motionof the link i3, which is moved by the Bourdon tube 5, with an added flexibility of the instrument.

In order to ehangethe initial relation of the 7 link l3'and the Bourbon tube 5 so that the inber 31 during the interval that the temperature] at bulb l was below normal. At this time assuming that the effect of the increased pressure in the chamber 33 has caused sufilcient opening of the commencement of the operations just de- 5 -just prior to the beginning of the cycle, the control pressure must be' higher at the end of the ning of the cycle, and at the end of the cycle the temperature of the bulb 4 must be below its former and assumed normal value. In practice,

however, with the control apparatus of the type illustrated which is properly designed and calibrated for the conditions of operation, the difference between the stable furnace temperatures obtained with diflerent loads in any ordinary range of load variation, will be too slight to have strument may control the value of the temperature in furnace 2 at various values a linkage similar to that in the above'mentioned patent, 2,125,- 081, may be used. For this purpose there is provided a knob II with a crank arm 12 and conn'epted by a link 13 to an index member 14. The

to me, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the form of the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims and that in some cases certain features of my invention may be used'to advantage without a corresponding use of other features.

cycle than it was immediately prior to the beginmeasurable or other practical significance.

Moreover, where the furnace loads have widely different average values during different periods, if of an appreciable duration, the theoretical "tendency of the different average loads to result in different bulb temperatures, may be eliminated by suitable adjustments of the device as hereinafter described.

fected which are precisely analogous, though respectively opposite in direction, to, the above described actions occurring in a cycle initiated by a a decrease in the bulb temperature.

' By the use of chamber 4! and bellows 49 to give the vfollowup and compensating movements to the flapper l8 instead of causing those move- Having now, described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In an air control system adjusted in response to variations in the value of a controlled condition, a pilot valve operated by said air control system to adjust a pressure supply, means providing follow-up for said system in response J to an adjustment thereof, control means for said follow-up means including a second and separate air control system, and means responsive to changes in the pressure supply controlled by the pilot valve to adjust said control means in one direction'to give follow-up action, said control means acting independently thereof in the opposite' direction to give reset action.

2. In combination with an air control instrument having follow-up provisions, a pilot valve mechanism adapted to adjust a pressure supply,

means to, regulate said pilot valve'in accordance with the valueof a control condition, a'second fluid pressure supply to operate said-follow-up provisions, a valve to adjust said second pressure supply, and an attachment operated by the pressure supply from the, pilot valve to adjust said valve, said attachment comprising means operative in response to changes in the pressure sup ply from the pilot valve to move said valve controlling the second fluid pressure supply rapidly in one 'directionand slowly in the opposite d1 rection.

3. In combination with an air control instrument, a first, a second and a third fluid pressure operated by the pressure supplied by the pilot valve to vary the third pressure supply rapidly in one direction and slowly in the opposite direction, and means operated by the adjusted third pressure supply to vary the first pressure supply independently of the first mentioned means.

ANKER E. KROGH. 

